Memory Box
by Sorrelwing
Summary: A one shot/infinity war fix it. After the birth of the twins, Wanda takes a trip down memory lane by opening a box of precious things she and Vision have collected over the years. A dried flower from Wakanda takes her back down a darker path, to a time when she is in mourning and broken. That is until Shuri comes with news about someone she thought lost forever.


**_So this is an extended take of sorts on my previous fix it/one shot "Little Miracle," where I showed snippets of this couple's life after their resurrection. This one rewrites/expands on one specific part, this being Wanda's grief and Vision's restoration. A warning that this version has a brief indication of self harm._**

"Don't worry, I've got him." Vision scooped the crying Tommy out of the moses basket gifted to them by Clint and Laura.

"I think he just wants a cuddle." Wanda said; the challenge of raising twins was made easier by her ability to read minds.

"Maybe some fresh air, too." Tommy seemed to be reaching for the open door, gurgling excitedly. The twins were only a month old, but developing quickly. Tommy was already the most active of the two, constantly wriggling and fidgeting, and he loved being taken outside. Billy was most content cuddling with his mother, as he was now, fast asleep on her chest after a feed. Undisturbed by his brother, Billy continued to sleep on.

"He loves the swingchair..." Vision held Tommy up. "Would you like to go outside, little man?"

"Go, we'll join you in a minute." Wanda sat up slowly so not to wake Billy. Vision smiled and leaned down to kiss her and his other son, before he headed onto the porch, Tommy squeaking excitedly in his arms as they went outside.

Wanda got up, gently placing Billy into the moses basket for a moment. The whole team had sent them gifts for the twins, such as toys and books. Billy was currently wrapped in an African-style baby blanket gifted by Okoye. As well as the basket, Clint and Laura had given them some old baby clothes, while Tony and Pepper had splashed out on some ridiculously expensive designer brand Wanda had never heard of.

She remembered what she had been doing prior to feeding Billy, and decided to finish her task, which had been suggested by godmother Natasha. A piece of Tommy's white hair - the only difference between the twins was hair colour - lay next to an open locket. She reached into the basket, snipping off a lock of Billy's dark brown hair, her free hand stroking the baby's face as she did. She placed each piece inside the locket, snapping it closed. Wanda pressed her lips to the locket casing, before placing it into the memory box alongside their other treasured possessions.

A rock that once belonged to a destroyed building in Sokovia. A collection of shells and pebbles, one from each country she and Vision had secretly visited during her time as a fugitive. The red ribbon her mother had used that day to tie Wanda's braid for the last time. Photos of the team they had taken. Pietro smiling. Natasha in her maid of honour outfit, giving a thumbs-up. Steve helping Bucky with his goats; Sam was visible in the background, running from one of the more aggressive rams that was charging him.

Her gaze found the most precious items. Three dried flowers - one white rose, now yellow and withered, that Wanda had taken from Pietro's graveside on the day of his funeral. Another, a wildflower that had been in her wedding bouquet. And finally, a purple African flower that Vision had picked for her a few days after his restoration. More specifically, it was a Wakandan flower.

Last night, Billy had jolted her awake, wailing - when Vision had picked him up, he had not stopped screaming until he was in Wanda's arms. He had gone eerily silent, staring at her with huge, frantic baby blue eyes, as if he knew she were in distress. It was here Vision then realized that Wanda was crying, and he had embraced her, murmuring soothing tones and words of comfort as he immediately knew why...

Wanda reached for the flower, gently examining it. It was unique to Wakanda, and perhaps the vibranium-rich soil had helped it retain some vibrancy despite it being almost two years old. Despite being withered, the purple petals were still bright. A familiar feeling of pain came over her, and an explosion followed by a terrible green light filled her mind. Wanda closed her eyes tightly.

She remembered that time in Wakanda like it was yesterday...

* * *

Sam Wilson got up from the forest floor, bewildered. "What the f..." he looked about, stumbling through the ferns. T'Challa staggered out of the bushes, looking around in a daze. They looked at each other, confused and in shock.

"We're back." Sam said, in bewilderment, and T'Challa nodded, slowly sitting down on a log and holding his head in his hands. Out of nowhere, Bucky appeared on the forest floor, crumpled in a heap. He looked up at Sam, who looked back with a look of false disdain. "Damnit. You're back?" Bucky grinned as Sam helped him up off the floor, but his smile disappeared as he saw a tree walking past.

"What the -"

"I am Groot." The thing glared at Bucky's stare. Bucky looked at Sam and T'Challa, wondering if he had a concussion.

"I saw him just before the last fight with... didn't question it at the time..." Sam shook his head before their relief dissipated, memories coming back of the last fight. What was happening in the background. They all fell quiet, and it was there they heard the crying. T'Challa slowly stood up and they all turned towars the place, where Vision's body once was.

"Oh, god... Wanda?"

* * *

Days bled into weeks. T'Challa and Queen Nakia had kindly given her a room to stay in while she came to terms with her loss. But that would never happen, they'd come to realise. While the world celebrated, Wanda was descending further into despair, beyond the point of return. The world was turning, and she wasn't moving on with it. She was inconsolable.

Wanda lay curled up on in a foetal position on the floor of the room, staring at the wall with blank eyes faintly glowing red with her powers. She had cried so much and was so dehydrated she had apparently run out of tears. Yet the numbness meant that hunger and thirst was no longer on the list of pains. She felt nothing any more.

Her defeated eyes were those of someone who had nothing left. Wanda had felt like this twice in her life. First her parents, and then her brother. She was devastated but she had slowly recovered. The first time she had Pietro for support. The second time, when she lost him, she had the team.

Natasha was there to provide an almost maternal comfort and sensitivity that only another woman could give. Clint comforted her by assuring her that Pietro had died a hero. Steve and the others helped distract her with training. And then there was Vision. He had been so new at the time, so nervous around her, but teaching him human tasks and etiquette had taken her mind off her grief. She had remained silent when she watched him put salt in Tony's coffee instead of sugar, laughed for the first time since Pietro's death when Tony spat it out. Her smile disappeared, remembering it would never happen again.

Why was losing Vision different to losing her parents and brother?

She hadn't killed Pietro. He hadn't died twice and in pain in the most brutal fashion. He may have been her twin brother, and she had loved him so much, but Vision was her soulmate. A piece of her had died with him.

Mysterious wounds were appearing in various places on her body. She stared at her forearm, mindlessly tracing the tally marks, both old and new. A few weeks ago, Steve and Clint had dared open the door, when Wanda had been in feverish sleep. They had noticed broken ornaments and blackened walls from where her unstable powers had lashed out. There was blood on a shard of mirror. Wanda had woken to see them standing there, and she had screamed at them to get out until they ran from her powers.

A plate of food and a glass of water was sitting outside the door next to Natasha. Her hair was still platinum blonde and she had intentions to dye it back to red, now that they were no longer fugitives, but she didn't feel right doing it. She felt wrong, to try and go back to normalcy while Wanda's life trickled away into nothingness. She was hugging her knees, leaning against the wooden door. It was eerily silent on the other side.

Steve, Clint, Sam, Okoye, everyone had tried talking to her. But the door remained firm shut, the curtains closed so that no sunlight could come in. Natasha had tried many times, and while everyone else had given up hope, she refused. She had come to view Wanda as a younger sister, and she was worried that Wanda might do something far worse than hurt herself.

"I know you're in there, and I refuse to move until you open this door. I'm not giving up on you." Natasha didn't expect a reply - she had arrived three hours ago and nothing had changed, not a word from inside. "I'm really sorry, Wanda. I know you're hurting..."

"Don't talk to me about pain when you don't even know what it means." The voice was barely audible but it still made Natasha jump after so long in silence.

"You know that's not true. I know when you're reading my mind." Natasha felt tears pricking at her eyes. "What can I do? What can _we_ do? Please tell us how to help you -" Without warning the glass of water sitting outside the door suddenly smashed into the opposite wall, threads of red energy fading as the glass shattered. She sighed. "Alright. Message received."

It was here she admitted defeat, trudging down the hall, brushing away her tears of frustration. Okoye just turned the corner as Natasha reached the end, in a hurry.

"Okoye, I don't know what else to do. We have to fix this but -"

"Shuri's made a breakthrough." Okoye interrupted, voice hushed, and Natasha froze, slowly turning to look at her, and Okoye gave a small nod. "Come quickly."

* * *

Tony and Bruce had made their contributions but found it difficult to work on Vision's broken body, staring at him on the lab table in guilt. Shuri had been working furiously to restore him, her brilliant mind and Wakandan technology making more progress.

The damage was so severe there were concerns that even if Vision could be brought back, he'd have no memory - his personality, his love for Wanda - gone. Yet while Shuri had taken the precaution of downloading most of Vision's consciousness before her attempt to remove the stone, the monitors had been silent for weeks, even as they repaired the physical damage. So they hadn't told Wanda, so as not to give her false hope.

Tiny touches from tools, the murmur of circuits as they were reawakened and repaired, was what stirred his sleeping soul from the dark. He couldn't move, nor open his eyes. There were two dull pains in his torso, and with that, he had a blurry memory of a curved blade. But the most pain was in his forehead. Another memory - a purple haze. He didn't remember what it was, although something told him it was a hand. He blacked out several times.

Days passed. He flitted in and out of consciousness like a moth dancing around a light source. The pain slowly faded away as new tissue filled the stab wounds as well as the crevice in his skull, which was when the blackouts ceased. A few more repairs were made, and then fragments of a lost life began to drift through his mind. He saw flashes - familiar faces, a pair of beautiful green eyes. He remembered her name before his yet he didn't recall how this happened, nor the complete picture of his life or who he was - he didn't remember that he loved her.

Suddenly he started hearing things again, but he still couldn't move. He heard faraway voices, but as more time passed, they grew clearer, closer.

"I think you've nearly done it..."

"Almost, brother. There's just one last piece of the puzzle..." The final connection was made as Shuri carefully restored the stone, and the gates of memory were opened.

He remembered everything. Three years flashed behind closed eyelids. The first uncertain year, full of conflict and discovery. Another two years of stolen moments with the woman he had fallen in love with, that had come to an abrupt and brutal end. His mind was frantic, sending the monitors crazy, as his last memories came back to him. He saw the team, scattered across the forest floor. Wanda in tears, and then screaming in horror. The titan's cruel eyes so close to his own with no trace of remorse or hesitation...

Under his eyelids, the mist cleared as colour returned to his eyes. At this moment, he realized: he had possession of his body once more.

His eyes flew open, and Vision sat up with such force he nearly fell off the table. Several tools went crashing to the ground, and by the doors, two Dora Milage advanced with spears, just in case Vision wasn't himself. T'Challa's suit formed and he quickly extended an arm to keep them back, although he pulled Shuri back with his other. Vision's eyes bore into them.

"Vision?" T'Challa asked, warily.

"Wanda - where is she?"

"Welcome back." Shuri nodded at her brother and the two guards, who retracted their weapons. The Wakandan princess looked exhausted yet relieved - she'd spent sleepless nights figuring out how to restore him, after hearing the anguished cries behind Wanda's door. Vision didn't care how this was possible or what happened after everything went black. He was desperate to know, his new life dependent on what happened to Wanda.

"What happened? Is she alright?"

"She's alive." Shuri hesitated; 'fine' or 'okay' was far from the truth. "Everybody is. We went on a little mission to restore the universe..." Vision immediately went to stand, intent on seeing Wanda, but Shuri and T'Challa hurried forward to ease him back down. "Whoa, whoa. Take it slow, we still need to run a few last tests to ensure everything is in working order..." Shuri motioned to two other Wakandan scientists, stepping back and leaving the room. "I'll go tell her the good news."

"I think we might need to break it to her slowly. She's..." T'Challa came forward to explain, the two scientists performing the last scans, as Shuri vanished.

Once the two scientists were satisfied that everything was as it should be, Vision finally stood up, pausing to look, but those old wounds were gone. He barely heard T'Challa explain what happened - how so many lives had been lost, restored after the surviving Avengers had torn the ruined gauntlet from Thanos, killed him, and undid the damage. He mentioned how the stones had been sent out to various allies. How the mind stone had been the only one kept by the Avengers, for obvious reasons. How Shuri, Tony and Bruce had collaborated to bring him back.

"Restoring you has been challenging. We were unsure it would work, so we didn't tell Miss Maximoff what we were trying to do - so not to give her false hope."

"How is she?"

T'Challa hesitated. "...Fragile."

* * *

With Natasha gone, the only thing Wanda could hear now was Vision's voice inside her head, one of the last things he had said to her. _"You could never hurt me."_ She released an anguished cry at the irony of it. It turned out she did have some tears left, as she began to weep softly, hands covering her face. She almost didn't hear the soft tap at her door.

"Miss Maximoff?" Not Nat, Shuri. Wanda stared at the door, wondering why Shuri off all people was now trying to coax her out of the room. If her friends had failed, what much good could Shuri do, when they hardly knew each other?

"Don't come in here."

"Princess, perhaps you should not -"

"Don't worry, Ayo." Shuri glanced toward her and the other guard. "Wanda," she said, more firmly. "I can't imagine how you're feeling. But there's something we need to show you." No answer. Wanda shook her head and turned away from the door.

Shuri had enough. She used her kimoyo beads to open the door, which Wanda had locked. The young scientist fearlessly stepped into the dark room. Ayo and the other guard lunged forward at the sight of Wanda on her feet, hands and eyes igniting red. Wanda was about to scream at them to get out, ready to use her powers if they refused. Shuri didn't even flinch, extending a calm hand to keep back the wary bodyguards. "We're fine. Leave us, please. "

Despite looking very reluctant to do so, the Dora Milage retreated to leave Shuri and Wanda alone.

For a moment Wanda glared at her unwanted visitor with hostility; then something else within her broke. The scarlet fire faded and she turned away, crossing the room to put as much distance between her and Shuri as possible. While her powers were still dangerous, Wanda felt too weak to use them. There was no more fight left within her to force Shuri to leave. She pressed her knuckles against her lips and refused to turn and look at her.

"Someone wants to see you." Shuri murmured.

"I don't care if they do."

"Well... they certainly do. But I'm referring to someone else... "

Wanda turned to look at her, not understanding at first. She studied Shuri's expression - it was no longer that of pity or guilt. A strange feeling spread throughout her being, and her weak heart suddenly started to thrash against her ribs, like a caged bird. Something was kicking her alive, as an extinguished flame of hope reignited. Could it be...? She didn't dare read Shuri's mind, afraid of what she might see. The Wakandan princess grinned.

"He's asking for you."

She was weak. Physically, from malnutrition, and her spirit broken. But she had never run so fast in her life. She was praying, almost aloud, that this wasn't a cruel dream conjured by her grief. In the lab, Vision paced. She was coming. He could hear pounding footsteps as she ran through the building towards him. Vision felt himself begin to panic, remembering T'Challa's words - Wanda was so fragile.

What on earth was he going to say to her? He'd begged her to kill him, and for what? Nothing. Thanos had undid all that with a single thought. All that pain they'd both endured had been meaningless. He never should have asked that of her... could she forgive him?

Silence filled the room. The hushed whispers of the team ceased, as did the footsteps. He could feel her. Slowly, he turned to face the doorway.

"Wanda." He said, softly.

He barely recognised her. She obviously hadn't eaten or slept in weeks. Wanda was painfully thin, her eyes hollow and dark. Her ginger hair was a wild, dull tangle, her skin ghostly pale, paper thin. It clung, straining across her sharpened cheek bones, where her face had grown gaunt with the rest of her body. Tears welled up in his eyes when he saw the wounds on her forearms. He'd noticed her scars before during their secret visits, but it seemed as though she had added to them, years after she had stopped.

Wanda looked so tired, so lost, so frail. Of course, after what he'd put her through... Agony filled his chest, and a tear escaped his eye, when he saw what his brutal death had done to her.

Vision desperately wanted to close the distance between them, to hold her in his arms, but he was paralyzed. He didn't move as she slowly walked towards him, stiffly, cautiously. Her eyes were wide with disbelief. He peered into her fragile mind - he sorted through the pieces, finding that she feared this to be a cruel dream.

Wanda's first thought was that he looked exactly as he had before. There was no difference, no sign to ever suggest that his body had ever been damaged, let alone destroyed beyond function. But there was something new in his kind blue eyes - she had seen the tears before, had been there to witness his first, kiss away the others that followed. What she saw was pain.

Wanda's hand came to touch his cheek. Her hand was so cold, he almost flinched - but as it came into contact with his skin, her glassy eyes widened. They flooded with tears as she whispered his name, realizing that he was very much real, very much alive. "Vizh?" Her voice was soft and broken. Wanda felt herself beginning to shake, saw her hand trembling before he reached to cover it with his own.

"It's me." Vision whispered. Wanda's eyes flooded with tears, and her knees gave out. He caught her in his arms, but found that he couldn't stay standing either. He sank to the floor as she clung to him, sobbing. She cried into his neck as he kissed her crown, cradling her against his chest. Her cries echoed throughout the building, heard by their friends behind the door, who huddled together.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She sobbed.

"Please don't be. It's my fault... what he did... what _I_ made you do... "

Wanda shook her head furiously. "You couldn't have known. None of us could... " She pulled back to cradle his face in both hands. "Are you okay?" She whispered, and he nodded, tenderly reaching to brush away her tears.

He was rarely the one to initiate a kiss, too afraid to overstep. That hadn't changed, only this time it was because he was terrified of breaking her. But she proved him wrong, as her shattered soul had stitched itself back together, the joy within her heart sending life back into her body. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him fiercely. Initially Vision hesitated, before giving in and returning her kiss with equal passion.

"Not one word." Bruce elbowed Tony, who looked as though he were tempted to make an ill-timed comment about getting a room. Wanda turned her head to look at them, and Shuri and the rest of the Wakandans who had helped.

"Thank you." she whispered, and Shuri smiled before closing the door to give them privacy.

Wanda brought his face close to hers, her forehead touching his.

"I love you." She whispered. "I love you so much..." An image filled his head, of that sickly green light, what cruel trick the time stone was capable of. Those last days, last moments, filled his mind. He had asked her to do something unspeakable, and it had all been for nothing. It had made things so much worse. The shock of his revival wore off, and as the mist cleared, Vision's body began to shake as the horror of what happened came full circle.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... if I had known what would happen, I never would have asked you..."

"Don't you dare. No... I don't blame you. You were just doing what you thought was right. We didn't know... we never could have." Wanda kissed away the tears falling down his cheeks, before she found his lips once more. His hands came to rest at the sides of her face as he returned her kiss. "All that matters is that it's over. You're here now, and we don't have to run anymore."

* * *

"Hey, hey... What's the matter, Billy? Ssh..." Billy had started to cry and Wanda lifted him from the basket. She held his head in her hand, tiny red tendrils feeding into the baby's temple. Her heart softened - he was worried about her. Billy tilted his head up at her, tiny hands reaching to touch her face. The twins were unusual. Billy always seemed to know when she or Vision were troubled, and normal babies didn't have as much energy as Tommy did...

Wanda kissed his forehead.

"I'm fine, little precious. Don't you worry about me." She held the younger twin over her shoulder, her hand cradling the back of his head. Her cheek nuzzled her son's dark brown hair as Billy settled against her neck, his tiny hand resting close to her heart. "Your dada and I are going to be okay. Because we have you and your brother." Wanda gazed through the window at Vision and Tommy on the swingchair, smiling. Vision had picked some bluebells from the clearing surrounding the house, and was now showing them to Tommy, who excitedly reached for the flower with fascinated eyes. She looked at the memory box, the Wakandan flower, and thought about it once more.

She didn't like to think about that dark time. But... things were better now. They had good days and bad days. When the twins were old enough to understand, they would have to explain what happened all that time ago in Wakanda. But it had been two years. Wanda and Vision had started a normal life together, no longer fugitives. They went on missions, befriended new members and allies of the team. They had gotten married, and Wanda's powers had gifted them Billy and Tommy.

Wanda smiled, brushing away the tear in her eye, as she leaned down to close the memory box. With Billy in her arms, she headed out to join Vision and Tommy on the swing chair.


End file.
